Methods and systems for operating devices by means of gestures or spoken voice are available in different variants and fields of application. Early implementations of such systems simply relied on the detection of motion by a motion sensor to operate devices such as lights, cameras or alarm systems. More sophisticated implementations are able to detect specific motion patterns, to enable a user to target operation of the device by specific gestures or to make operation of the device less sensible to just any kind of motion in front of the sensor.
Face detection and face recognition in images and videos is becoming a standard feature/capability of many systems (for example Google's Picasa or Windows Live). Other means of tracking a person's presence and location in a closed environment exist and are being used, for example the use of RFID based solutions through which persons wearing RFID tags may be continuously tracked with long range detection and triangulation techniques.
European patent no. EP0919906 discloses a control method and system that allow input to be provided in the form of gestures for controlling devices. The method includes an operator selection section that recognizes attributes of a person making a gesture. The additional information on the operators attributes are used to prioritize some operators over others.
The published US patent application US2008/0004951 discloses an architecture for presenting advertisements in real time in retail establishments. A sensor component includes sensors for collecting information about one or more customers as they move through the store. The sensors can include capability for image processing, audio processing, light sensing, velocity sensing, direction sensing, proximity sensing, face recognition, pose recognition, transaction recognition, and biometric sensing, for example. A customer component analyzes the information and generates a profile about the customer. Advertisements are selected for presentation that target the customers as they walk in proximity of a presentation system of the store. An advertisement component facilitates dynamic presentation of a targeted advertisement to the individual as a function of the profile. The customer component can infer information during analysis using machine learning and reasoning.
In medical settings such as in an operation room of a hospital, a group of persons may be assigned to perform a specific team task being supported by medical equipment. For example, in a surgical theatre a number of people (surgical staff) work together to jointly perform a surgery. The surgery will usually be conducted by a surgeon who is also the leading responsible team member. The surgeon relies on the anesthetist for performing anesthesia, and on other medical staff members for performing other tasks. Together, the surgical team members control a number of medical systems. These systems are generally operated through physical buttons or switches. Generally the main surgeon(s) cannot operate the medical system himself (either because their hands are busy with the patient or their hands are sterile while parts they need to touch are not) and request other medical staff to operate the devices.
In “HCl Design in the OR: A Gesturing Case-Study”, by Ali Bigdelou et al., Computer Aided Medical Procedures, Technische Universität München, and Klinikum München-Posing, October 2012, it is disclosed a computerized system for controlling medical equipment in an operating room by means of a gesture-based interface.
Document “Voice or Gesture in the Operating Room”, by Helena M. Mentis et al., Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701 New York N.Y. 10121-0701 USA, 18 Apr. 2015, pp. 773-778, presents another of such systems that allows for both gestural or voice control at the choice of the surgeon.